3.5 stars

Overall I really liked this twisty story and the characters (hell yeah, Ace rep!! That was one of the first times I’ve read an Ace character talk about their discovery of their asexuality so candidly and honestly) but the writing style wasn’t for me. It was overly dramatic and it felt like the writer was trying too hard to make every line of this book something poetic. But what I did love was the descriptive gory and creepy bits. Truly some unsettling imagery in this, which was fun.

I will say the writing style makes more sense when you get to understand more about the headspace the narrating character is in. I became a little less frustrated with it after discovering what’s really going on. And that mystery did pull me eagerly through the book.

Stars for originality of the story, good ace rep, and the descriptive, gory horror bits.

This was fine. I'm not sure if the weaknesses in it are real weaknesses or just that I'm not the target audience. The language was very overwrought and at points eye-rolling, and despite how very YA everything felt the characters didn't talk like teenagers. It also really dragged and took me months to finish. The worldbuilding was interesting but not fully realized. The elements about queerness and asexuality felt extremely YA after-school-special, which isn't necessarily bad given that's the audience. I've read much more complex, rich, and nuanced YA though.

Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for providing an e-copy of this novel!

This book is phenomenal. I don't even know what to say. I just kept thinking about this book after I finished it. The raw emotion poured onto the page. I can feel all the despair, hope, longing, etc bubbling up again just by thinking about the story. Ugh, I feel like I'm being melodramatic and nonsensical, but this book was amazing and I loved it and positive reviews are hard.
I highly highly highly recommend this book, especially if you are a fan of psychological horrors/thrillers similar to Black Swan.

WOW. This book was exactly what I had hoped it would be, and maybe a little more because tears were spilled. Exactly the kind of book I love to read.

Don't Let the Forest In follows three friends- twins Andrew and Dove, and misfit artist Thomas- during their final year at boarding school. It is quickly clear that things are different this year, made all the more clear when Andrew stumbles on Thomas fighting a monster in the off-limits forest.

This was one of those books where the environment can be felt. It's very much an additional character in the story. I was sucked in immediately and wanted to know what was going on, what was real and what wasn't. If you love magic you spend the book wondering if it's real or just the characters losing it, this one's for you. There are a ton of lines that jumped out and impacted me.

The only issue I had, was that sometimes a few things felt squished into the story that didn't fully fit the feel of everything else. The points were all important, both in the greater scheme of the world and also for the characters, but something about it felt slightly off. Obviously that didn't stop me from loving this book.

With horrific elements of body horror, obsessive friendships, and amazing rep for anxiety this is not one to miss.

This book is what you would get if you mixed Chima's The Wizard Heir book with the game Omori and played the song Danse Macabre in the background.

Don't Let the Forest In is a hauntingly beautiful YA psychological horror filled with creepy forests and dark fairytales. While I typically don't read anything that falls into the "horror" genre, this book is making me reconsider my stance on that, because the vibes were impeccable. The spooky aesthetic and the imagery as a whole in this book, along with the beautifully written prose really engrossed me in the story and the world. It's something that will be haunting my imagination for a long time.
Andrew is returning to boarding school in the fall when he notices something is off about his friend, Thomas. Soon, the forest outside the school is overrun with Thomas's drawings of monsters come to life...and they're out for blood. There's some elements of mystery that really intrigued me, and I thought overall that the story was relatively fast-paced. I managed to call the main plot twist a few chapters before it was revealed, but I was still amazed by it. I loved the overall vibes of the story, and I'm still not over all the imagery and the prose.
I also adored all of the characters. Andrew was so sweet and yet so complex, and I found his struggles with writing and relationships to be relatable and well-written (the ace rep was unexpected but so welcome!). Thomas's passion and his dynamics with Andrew were so lovely as well, and I just loved them together. The supporting cast was equally interesting, but at its heart, this book was Andrew and Thomas's story.
Don't Let the Forest In is the perfect spooky read for your fall TBR.
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the free e-ARC!

4.75/5

This book is dark messy and dirty in the most beautiful way. I don’t normally read books that are considered horror. It was 100% a cover pick. I’m not the target audience and I’m glad it was never out when I was because if it messed with my head now I would have been traumatized for a week at least if I was a teen and read this book. This book leaves you contemplating reality and confirming your loved ones are there. It’s beautifully written! Honestly I did not know what to expect when I started this. I’m not a horror fan (though I’m not sure a horror fan would call this horror? I feel like it’s on that line between horror and psychological thriller) but I do love my dark fairytales and I think that’s where it grabbed me and dragged me in! The main character Andrew is a teen that’s really into dark fairytales and brought out my younger selfs love of those Grimm fairytales. And once I was in, once I had that connection I couldn’t stop. This book left me not feeling good and needing to confirm that my loved ones were there and I’m pretty sure that was the authors goal. So congratulations if you are reading this, your book left the intended effect.

This is considered a YA book, clearly for the style its s written in, but adults should read it as well. Read the summary/synopsis/trailer of this book. Gets you thinking. Who in fact, or what in fact is This Forest? Your mind will have its own questions for sure. This book definitely will create some feelings in you. Enjoy the ride.

This was my first book my C.G. Drews, but I requested an ARC from NetGalley bc of the anticipation and feedback I’d seen on TikTok. Needless to say, it did not disappoint.

I don’t read too many paranormal/monster stories, but this one was told just right with the perfect amount of suspense and coupled with a slow burn love story. This book was an easy read, which I devoured in one sitting.

I will definitely be checking out more titles from this author in the future.

Don't Let the Forest In is a riveting psychological horror story, juxtaposing macabre elements against floral imagery to create a truly unsettling atmosphere. The narrative is beautifully poetic, full of angst, longing, and secrets, and paints vivid portraits of Wickwood Academy and the sinister monsters lurking in the forest outside. The romance between Andrew and Thomas is a queer, slow burn that explores Andrew's asexual identity and the uncertainty of a friendship evolving into something more. Perfect fans of The Whispering Dark and Wilder Girls!

i am quite genuinely in shock and in tears. i don’t think i have read a book so viscerally haunting in every way of the word. to say this is my new favorite book doesn’t do my feelings towards it justice whatsoever. each sentence felt like the title of an oil painting. i could feel everything andrew described, i could see the monsters and the imagery depicted so perfectly in my head there were times i wondered if i was imagining it all. i don’t like to reread books really ever, but this is one i will certainly be doing just that over and over again. for gods sake i started taking notes so i made sure to remember all my favorite parts (there were too many to count). i can’t get over the imagery in this book. it was beautiful in a way that can only be described through art, i feel. as an asexual gay man, andrew’s feelings were ones i struggle with often. however as an artist similar to thomas, with devotion deep in my heart, i ached with them both. i could feel the despair they both felt. the grief and the fear. i don’t know if ill ever be over this book and i fear it may become the entirety of my personality. i will admit that i read the last 5 pages while listening to ‘doubt comes in’ from hadestown and timed it perfectly with the last sentence so as orpheus turned around i finished it and that did NOT help

This is one of the best books I've read all year! A mix of disturbing fairy tale, creature feature, and psych horror, this was such a well-crafted story that kept me engaged and on edge the whole time! It was spooky, visceral, heart-wrenching - everything I could have asked for. C. G. Drews's macabre prose is exquisite, equal parts precise and imaginative, and it helps anchor us in the world of the story brilliantly. The twists were really well-plotted, and the world is so immersive.

Andrew and Thomas are disastrous in the best way, and the way their relationship is crafted is beautiful. Andrew is also some fantastic a-spec representation, and seeing how well he was written and handled was refreshing!!

I'm so incredibly excited for this book to come out. It will haunt me for some time to come, and I will absolutely be getting a copy!!

thank you to netgalley, the publisher, and to CG drews for the advanced reader copy of "don't let the forest in". first off, can we talk about how stunningly GORGEOUS that cover is??? i love a good psychological horror and baby, this DELIVERED. also, i loved that there was asexual representation in "don't let the forest in", because i feel as though that is a chronically underrepresented sexuality. the folky horror vibe was everything-- it had the atmosphere of "summer sons", except i actually ENJOYED "don't let the forest in". usually folk horror can drag, but this story did not at all.

I really enjoyed this book. However, there is one big flaw writing-wise.

I'm someone who loves third person, but this book really needed to be first-persom. I often found myself very easily confusing Andrew and Thomas. The old fashioned-ness of their names didn't help, but even more than that, the fact that we had two "he" pronouns and way Andrew was written made it very hard to distinguish actions and sometimes I wondered if this book was head-hopping their POVs. I would have genuinely enjoyed this book far more if I didn't constantly have to reread to figure out who was doing what.

In solidarity with the #speakupsmp protest going on, I will not be providing feedback. I will though read the book, I'm not going to punish the author by not enjoying their work.

This was crazy! But in a good way!
Such a page-turner, edge-of-your-seat type of book!
There is so much to uncover with what is going on with Thomas, and everything that is happening!
This is a YA book but don't let that stop you if you aren't someone who typically reads YA! It was amazing!

Andrew wants to uncover what is going on with Thomas, but when he does he has to make a choice, this was such an addictive read!

Thank you for this ARC!

What a way to start the book! The atmosphere of this book is incredible; I truly felt like I was in the forest along with the characters. Their dynamic was really fun and there is a twist or two I didn’t see coming.

This book definitely had a YA feel to it and was super easy to read. Occasionally the characters fell a little flat and monotone but over all were likable. Id say work on dialogue a little so that the flow feels more natural.

SPOILER ALERT. I'VE TRIED TO AVOID THE MOST BLATANT SPOILERS, BUT THERE ARE STILL A FEW IN THIS REVIEW.

I finished this book ages ago but have been putting off the review for it because I was so torn.

The author's writing style was absolutely gorgeous. Many of the imagery and sentences in this book were some of the most beautiful I've ever read. CG Drews certainly has a way with words. When I say the sentences were literally beautiful, that's exactly what I mean. They were GORGEOUS.

I also enjoyed the premise of the book.

However, it's execution leaves much to be desired. The "big twist" became obvious somewhat early on, and that killed much of the mystery of the book for me. Also, some of the scenes were absolutely unrealistic. I get it. They're angsty, rich teens in a private boarding school. I'm sure they do get away with more than the average high school student. But even so... yeah. Some of the stuff was just nonsensical.

Finally -- and this was my biggest complaint -- there wasn't effective closure. I'm typically okay when the ending is ambiguous, but this one was TOO ambiguous. After finishing the book, I have no idea if everything was just in the MC's head and never actually happened or if it was real. I have no idea if the MC and his love interest survived or if the MC killed the love interest. Or if they died together.

For that reason, I couldn't rate this book more than 3 stars, even though the writing itself was some of the most beautiful I've ever read.

This book was pretty good but just too young for me. I read until 65% and found myself skimming. It’s a great YA novel which is what it’s marketed as but I was intrigued by the story and cover art. I would definitely recommend this to preteens and teens. I loved that the MC is ace. Very rare and awesome representation.

Thank you NetGalley for this ARC.

I loved this book. I *steadily* devoured it in within a week. The writing style was very poetic but descriptive so I could easily see what was happening in my head but in a pretty way. I enjoyed reading Andrew's short stories and the fantastic chemistry between Andrew and Thomas. This really would be a great story for Halloween, but since I read it during summer, it was great for Summerween vibes.